Funny How The Cards Fall
by mishafer
Summary: While stuck as the third wheel on a night out yet again, Tara notices a beautiful woman in pigtails drinking it up with her friends. Developing romance, fluff, humor, hurt/comfort. More chapters to come.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Pretty freeform at the moment. Characters like Beth, Hershel, Lilly, Meghan etc. will come later uwu.

**EDIT 1/29/2015:** I have not abandoned this, I have every intention to continue just be patient.

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><p>It was <em>not<em> a sleazy bar, that's what Maggie and Glenn had assured.

"I don't care if it's not sleazy, I'm not being your third wheel _again_," Tara had groaned.

She eventually threw up her hands and went anyway.

"The nachos are good, I've had them." Glenn gestured towards the basket of stale chips that were slathered in some knock-off of Velveeta cheese.

"I can make better nachos with a moldy piece of bread and spray cheese," Tara said.

"Don't knock spray cheese." Glenn shook his finger at Tara from across the table.

"If you want, we'll take you to Pixie Dust." Maggie shrugged.

Pixie Dust was Atlanta's chief lesbian bar where Tara had had an unlucky history. She'd sworn off the place after the second time she hooked-up with a straight girl who was just looking to experiment.

Despite wanting one, Tara hadn't had room for a relationship since her last one. It had ended on a very sour note, being that the woman in question turned out to not actually be into women. Nowadays, Tara spent most of her time working and studying hard for the police academy and frequently babysat her niece Meghan while her sister Lilly worked long shifts at Grady Memorial Hospital.

"No, no way. I shit-canned that place last Halloween." Tara put up her hands and fell back on her seat.

The sound of woman's chortle stole Tara's attention as Maggie asked Glenn if he'd locked their front door or not. Three tables down, a group of three women sat in the midst of a very animated conversation. Tara wished she could be part of it. She felt bad for this, wishing she were with someone else being as Glenn and Maggie were two of her best friends. Tara had met Glenn over an Xbox Live co-op play of Call Of Duty nearly two years before. After they'd gotten to talking over their headsets, they found out they both lived in Atlanta and after a few more conversations over the following weeks, they decided to meet up.

_"Alright, now if you're some basement-dwelling dudebro who thinks I'm a ticket to some ass, then it's sayonara pal_,_"_ Tara had warned Glenn the night before their first meeting.

_"Oh no, no way! I mean, that's exactly what some_ _basement-dwelling dudebro would say but, no, no worries."_

Maggie had come along several months later. Glenn and Maggie met when Glenn delivered her and her family three large pizzas, bread sticks and two diet cokes. They continued to meet and converse whenever he would deliver to her and her family, exchanging looks and receiving several glares from her father Hershel in the process.

_"Dude, she likes you! If you don't ask her out, I'll ask her for you."_ Tara had pushed Glenn toward Maggie after seeing he'd been trying to write-off her flirting as being polite.

Now married, Glenn and Maggie still made sure Tara never felt excluded, she was the catalyst that brought them together after all.

The three women at the table looked to be having a typical girl's night out. Drinks abound, high voices and laughter filling the air with low-cut tops that left little to the imagination. One of the women in particular caught Tara's eye. She wore her medium-length, dark hair in two low pigtails and a pink button-up shirt tied up at the bottom to reveal the smallest sliver of her waist. She looked to be telling some long story as she was gesturing wildly with her hands as the two other women listened carefully, despite how intoxicated they most likely were.

"-go back? I mean, we've never been robbed before but there's a first time for everything." Glenn scratched his head.

"Guys, if you think you're gonna be robbed, you won't be. It's when you don't think it, is when you will be." Tara turned her head back to Glenn and Maggie.

"That somethin' you learn at the academy?" Maggie gave a mischievous smirk.

"Nope, my dad."

"I shoulda' known." Maggie shook her head.

Tara glanced back at the girls' table and saw that it was empty, glasses and plates scattered across it. Tara felt an impulse to excuse herself to the restroom, using it as an excuse to scope out the room and see if the women, and the girl in the pigtails, were still there.

"Gotta take a leak, be back." Tara sat up and set off toward to the women's room door to the left of her. She halted just before the restroom door and turned to around to scan the room, she didn't spot the three. Her enthusiasm fell and she proceeded inside to use the facilities.

As she departed the room, she saw the pigtailed-girl standing by the bar texting on her phone. Tara didn't see the other two women there and wondered where they'd gone.

She didn't now why, but she had the intense urge to talk to this woman. Whether it be a platonic, romantic or something in between kind of desire, she didn't know. But she knew that she had to at least find out her name.

She fluffed her nearly shoulder-length hair, curling her left index finger around the wave at its bottom, and set out to the bar. She marched as upright as confident as she possibly could, obeying the rules of the 'large and in charge strut' that an instructor named Shane had taught her at the academy.

As she made it to speaking range of the woman, she realized she hadn't thought of what she was going to say.

_Shit_, Tara exclaimed in her head. What was she going to say? 'Hey, what's your name I just got the incredible urge to talk to you and learn your name?'

"What happened to your friends?" Tara eventually got out.

The woman raised her head and met Tara's eyes, then looked her up and down. Tara instantly worried that she'd angered her and was about to be told to fuck off, but she let out a chuckle and gave a nod.

"Drama, you know how it is," She replied.

"Kinda drama?" Tara asked, feeling her anxiety fall slightly.

"The usual."

"Catfight usual?"

The woman chuckled. "Of course, what else," She replied as she placed her phone in the black, leather purse that hung from her right shoulder.

"So, those your parents back there?" The girl fiddled with the bands holding her hair in place, tugging at them in at attempt to even them out. Tara noticed how soft her hair looked, she wondered how it'd feel between her fingers.

"Nah, just my godparents, it's my twenty-first and they wanted to get me away from my harsh, Mormon upbringing," Tara teased.

"Haha, that's good. Nah, who are they really?" She rested her right hand on her hip.

"My sickeningly happy married friends who I was dumb enough to let take me to this place." Tara rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, couples. I just got divorced about a month ago."

"Oh, sorry to hear that or... happy to hear that?" Tara narrowed her eyes.

"Be happy to hear it, glad I got him outta my life."

"He an asshole?"

"Not all over, we just went too fast and found out we weren't all that mixable."

"I've had my fair share of assholes too, you're not alone."

"Oh yeah? What kinda guys you go for?"

"Uh, I go for the ladies. But don't get me wrong, they can be assholes too." Tara sighed.

"Oh, okay. Guess my idea of saying to hell with men and finding myself a nice chick was misguided?"

"Well, there are some good ones. But they ones I like are usually straight."

"Hm." The woman looked as if she'd been propositioned and was thinking it over.

_Can she tell I'm into her?_ Tara worried.

"Aren't they gonna want their goddaughter back?" The girl said. Tara's heart dropped into her stomach. The woman had seen that she was being hit on by a girl and was now swiftly sending her away. Tara had just made an ass of herself and now she had to go back to Glenn and Maggie and attempt to explain her absence.

"Yeah, they'll be worried." Tara began to turn away, trying to pull her mouth up enough to not look as crushed as she was.

"Hey, wait."

Tara jerked back around.

"You forgot something."

"What?" Tara furrowed her brow.

"My number. You got a phone on you?"

_Ohmygodholyshitohmygodfuck._

"Uh, yeah." Tara smiled and pulled her Android from her right jean-pocket.

"And no, I'm not some straight chick looking to experiment if that's what you think," She clarified.

"Alright then, _non_-asshole, do I get a name to put on here?" Tara said.

"Rosita."

_Rosita._ Tara had never noticed how beautiful that name was.

"Tara. Tara Chambler." Tara hoped she'd pull Rosita's last name out of her as well.

"Espinosa," Rosita said.

"That your ex's last or yours?"

"Mine, all mine baby." Rosita giggled.

Tara couldn't help finding the words 'all mine baby' incredibly sexy when they were coming from _her_ mouth.

After they'd entered each other's numbers, they waved each other off and Tara returned to her table eager to tell Glenn and Maggie what had transpired.

"Hey, you fall in or something?" Glenn asked Tara as she sat back down in her seat.

"What?" Tara had completely forgotten she'd initially gone to the restroom.

"No, I, guys I totally got this girl's number." Tara held out her phone, grinning and waving it front of them.

"Whoa, wait, who?" Maggie leaned forward.

"That girl three tables down, the one with the pigtails. You see her?"

"Uh, no I was too busy looking at the most beautiful woman in the world." Glenn turned to Maggie with a face of mock puppy-love adoration.

"Ugh, please." Maggie smiled and playfully shoved him.

"Ew, Glenn," Tara said.

"Don't say ew, in not too long you'll be the same way with, what's her name?"

"Rosita," Tara said proudly.

"Rosita. Yep, you'll be me in no time."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** So sorry it took me so long to update this! I wanted to get the monster of a chapter of my other fic out of the way before I began to continue this.

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><p>Tara arrived home to her single-bedroom apartment just after eleven-thirty.<p>

_Home on a Friday night before midnight._ Tara shook her head.

_At least I got the hottest chick at the bar's number. Well, second hottest._

The sudden sound of a collar jingling averted Tara's attention to the white terrier that eagerly trotted up to her.

"Heya, Sunshine." She beamed. She hated the name Sunshine, she'd never have named the dog that in a million years if Meghan hadn't insisted the his name was to be Sunshine. And what could she do? Ignore Meghan's sweet, little doe eyes and name the pup Zombie instead?

_"NO! Zombies are gross! His name is Sunshine, Aunt Tara. Sunshine is nice and pretty!"_ Meghan had pleaded.

_"Alright, alright. Sunshine it is."_ Tara had given in after several minutes of arguing.

She knelt down and rubbed the dog's head as he barked several times, louder than he needed to.

"Shhh! Sunshine, quiet." She attempted to silence him being as she didn't want another noise complaint from her next door neighbor, Michonne.

Tara didn't want to admit that she wanted to text Rosita already, but she did. A series of witty things should could type flew through her mind, but she knew how desperate she might look if she hit send.

"Whose idea was it to make imaginary dating rules?" Tara said to Sunshine as she scratched him behind the ears.

The sound of her phone's incoming tone sound nearly made her flinch. She stood up and reached for the phone in her pocket, assuming it would be Glenn or Maggie informing her if their front door was in fact locked or not. Tara's eyes bulged out when she saw the name on the screen:

11:36pm  
>from Rosita Espinosa:<p>

the bowling alley downtown tomorrow night 7?  
>i never got to have a bowling alley date when i was a teenager<br>you down?

_Holy shit. _Tara stared down at glaring blue light in disbelief. _She's already thought of our date?_

Tara, despite the imaginary dating rules Rosita had just broken, decided to wait at least two minutes before replying. She didn't want to seem_ that eager_.

She clutched the phone in her grip, counting the seconds as she dropped her purse on the kitchen table and made her way back to her bedroom as Sunshine promptly followed. She changed into her green army camouflage t-shirt and pajama combo that Maggie had given her or her birthday, and lay down on her side on top of her queen-sized bed.

Tara held the phone with her left hand and gazed at the screen, puckering her lips in contemplation. She felt Sunshine nuzzling around her bare feet as she thought of the perfect reply:

11:41pm  
>to Rosita Espinosa:<p>

im down  
>get ready to lose ;)<p>

A simple, easy response. Exactly what she would have said if Rosita had made her the offer in person. Tara hoped Rosita would respond, at least to send a smiley face as confirmation.

"Ew, Sunshine. Not again," She groaned as the dog licked at her toes, she proceeded to pull her legs up out of his reach. She exhaled deeply while she impatiently tapped the side of her phone with her thumb. Finally, a response came forth:

11:46pm:  
>from Rosita Espinosa<br>:D

Tara involuntarily broke into a large grin and waggled her toes in excitement, Sunshine took the opportunity and began to nibble at her moving feet.

"Ahh! Stop! Bad dog, bad!" She scolded, setting the phone down on the night stand beside her. "For that, I'm hiding my feet from you forever."

Tara proceeded to sit up from her lying-down position and pushed the bedsheet and top quilt down, nestling her feet in the warmth it instantly offered. She reached over, turned out the lamp on the night stand and pulled the covers up to her neck, scrunching them in her hands. She closed her eyes, hoping she would fall asleep instantly so the next day would arrive as soon as possible.

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><p>"He just got divorced, <em>just<em> got divorced." Tara sat next to her sister Lilly on her living room sofa while Meghan lay on the floor scribbling on a sheet of paper with her crayons.

Lilly sighed. "And so did, what was her name, Rosie?"

"_Rosita_. Rosie? Really? You think I'd date a Rosie? And she didn't _just_ get divorced, it's been a few months."

"Alright, sorry. But Phillip is a great guy, you just have to get past the tough-guy act. When you do, you'll like him, I promise," Lilly declared confidently.

Tara had been distrusting of her sister's new love interest the moment she laid eyes on him. She was distrusting of every guy Lilly dated, but she felt she had to be since the guy who knocked her up up and left her several years before. Phillip had a daughter around Meghan's age, Penny, and Tara was suspicious that much of her sister's interest in him was so that Meghan could have some sort of a sister.

Tara threw up her hands. "Alright, that's it. I give up."

"Finally," Lilly proclaimed as stood up from her position next to Tara and began to stroll towards the kitchen. "Turkey chili?"

Meghan's head darted up from the drawing on the page in front of her. "Ew! No, not again, mommy!" She grimaced.

"Meghan, it's good for you," Lilly schooled.

"All lean protein, if you eat it, you could grow up and be an awesome cop like me," Tara said.

Meghan turned her head to Tara. "But you're not a cop yet."

Tara leaned back slightly. "Well, dang girl, deduction skills like that and you'll be the first female Sherlock Holmes."

"And then I won't need to eat turkey chili," Meghan declared.

Tara raised her eyebrows. "She's got you there, Lilly."

"Doesn't matter, it's turkey chili_ today_." Lilly said as she turned and headed into the kitchen to attend to the boiling pot on the stove.

"Are you gonna stay for dinner too? It's meatloaf_ again_, ugh," Meghan asked after a few moments.

"I would, but I got a date," Tara said proudly.

Meghan set her crayons down on her drawing and stood up. "Oooh, is she pretty?"

Tara chuckled. "Oh yeah, very. Like Esmeralda pretty."

"Esmeralda!? Mommy! Tara's going on a date with someone as pretty as Esmeralda!" Meghan said enthusiastically as Lilly reentered the room with a TV tray containing three bowls of the turkey chili.

Lilly set the TV tray down on the coffee table and shot Tara an amused look. "Oh, I know. She told me all about it."

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><p>The clock had just struck six as Tara desperately attempted to find the perfect thing to wear for her date.<p>

"Alright Sunshine, too much?" Tara said as she turned from the full-length mirror on her closet door to the dog who sat idly by on her bed, watching her intently. She wore slick, dark brown leather pants with a knitted black, long-sleeved shirt. Sunshine simply stared at her.

"Yeah, it's way too much for a bowling alley," Tara said as she began undressing from the attire. Tara narrowed her eyes at the rack of clothes before her, waiting for something to jump out at her.

"Aha!" She proclaimed as she spotted the red and black-striped, loose-sleeved shirt that she often wore on nights out. She pulled garment from the rack and quickly adorned it, stepping back out of the closet and in front of the mirror.

"This and plain-old jeans. Hot, but casual," She said to Sunshine who had begun to nod off.

Tara began to wonder what Rosita would be wearing, if she'd dress in same revealing manner she had at the bar. Tara became excited at the idea, imagining all the ways a variety of different clothes might hug her body. And what those clothes might look like coming off, maybe in the very bedroom she stood in.

_Whoa, we're not there yet. _Tara shook her head.

She decided to go with minimal makeup, keep her hair as she usually did, but wet it first and blow-dry the roots to give it more lift. As her wrist watch read _6:33_, she concluded it was time to leave. The drive would take longer than usual, being as it was a Saturday night and she wanted to get there exactly on time. She strolled out of the restroom and into the foyer of her apartment, grabbed her purse and keys off the table and exited her residence.

The drive was frustrating, there seemed to be more people speeding and violating simple driving etiquette than usual. Something she had become hyper-sensitive to ever since joining the police academy.

When she finally arrived, she glanced down at her watch and was relieved to see the digits _06:58_.

Tara inhaled deeply, experiencing the combined feeling of pre-date anticipation with crushing stress. She opened the car door and stepped out, the sky just peaking at dusk. She walked forward to front entrance of the atrociously ugly red, yellow and green building. She thinks she heard it was constructed in the seventies and had only renovated once since then, she certainly believed it.

She pulled open the double door and guided herself inside, scanning the establishment for Rosita, a lump in her throat forming at the fear of being stood up. She moved into the bowling alley area of the complex, continuing to run her eyes across the sea of people, but she didn't see her date.

A sudden tap on her shoulder made her flinch.

"Damn, we're both right on time," Rosita's voice sounded from behind her.

Relief flooded Tara's body as she turned around to see Rosita grinning at her. She wore her hair up this time instead of in pig tails, exposing her sharp features that were enhanced with, black winged eyeliner. She had on a pink t-shirt over a black mini-skirt that accentuated the lovely curves of her body.

"Still ready to lose?" Tara smirked.

Rosita smiled and rolled her eyes. "Ha, yeah right."


End file.
